Transforming Healthcare Conversations: AI Chatbots Enable Doctors to Deliver Bad News with Compassion

According to a report by The New York Times, some doctors are now utilizing AI-powered chatbots, such as ChatGPT, to effectively deliver distressing news to their patients in a compassionate manner. Ever since OpenAI introduced this viral product in November, medical professionals have promptly recognized its potential and found various applications for it.

As per The New York Times, Peter Lee, the corporate vice president for research and incubations at Microsoft, an investor in OpenAI, discovered that the chatbot has been consistently aiding doctors in communicating more empathetically with their patients.

The report mentions that several practitioners began using ChatGPT within just 72 hours of its public release. The chatbot has demonstrated exceptional medical knowledge, and there is evidence suggesting that it may even contribute to enhancing a doctor’s bedside manner.

A study conducted by researchers from the University of California in San Diego revealed that medical experts rated ChatGPT’s responses to patient inquiries as higher in quality and more empathetic compared to those of human doctors. On average, the chatbot’s answers were deemed seven times more empathetic than the physicians’ responses. In 78.6% of the 585 scenarios presented, medical experts preferred the AI chatbot’s replies over the physician’s.

Insider previously reported that ChatGPT has successfully passed the US Medical Licensing Exam. Additionally, the report highlights that OpenAI’s latest iteration, GPT-4, possesses even better clinical judgment, as stated by a doctor and Harvard computer scientist.

Nevertheless, AI-powered tools like ChatGPT are not infallible and can still make errors or misdiagnose, raising concerns about potential misuse by certain patients. At the time of Insider’s request for comment, which was made outside of regular working hours, representatives from OpenAI had not yet responded.